Fang's Blog
by IllaSc
Summary: There are three reasons to read this fic. 1 It's good. Duh. 2 It follows the Flock as chronicled in Fang's Blog. Today they're going to a Halloween party. Coincidence? I think not. 3 You know this fic, I just changed its name. HOMECOMING IS BACK!
1. Homecoming

Hey people! This is my very first MR fanfic. I actually wrote it a long time ago, I just joined the site. If you've followed along on the blog, you will know in Nov. 2005, Fang went to Virginia to try to find his mom. Well, he never described his homecoming... this is it, in Max's POV.

**Disclaimer: I do not have the brilliancy required to come up with Maximum Ride and her flock, thus I am not James Patterson and I do not own them. **

**Warning: My friends call me Ms. Fluffikins. You have been forewarned.**

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I stood on the ledge of the unfinished hotel, watching, waiting, hoping, worrying.

We've been staying here at the hotel for a while, because it's a great place. We can see everything- we're on floor sixty, I think. The workers leave at 5:30, and there's already plumbing in the rooms. Which means all six of us can get hot showers at once.

Make that all five of us. Fang has been missing for days, weeks... I've lost track of how many. No warning, no note, no nothing. Which is why I'm here.

Every night, just before the sun sets, I watch the horizon for anything to hint that he's coming back. Okay, okay, I'll admit, I'm worried. And sad. It's like someone cut off my right hand. Fang is the co-leader of the Flock. He wouldn't just leave forever... would he?

Which is what worries me. I've noticed before how he doesn't really depend on anyone. But _I _depend on _him_ to help me lead and keep together the younger ones.

I scanned the New York City skyline once more when I heard a step beside me. It's Iggy. He must have known exactly where he was, because he stopped right in front of the ledge.

"Still looking for Fang?" His voice had an edge to it. "I don't think he's coming back, Max."

An angry reply came to mind, but disbelief crowded it out. Of course he would come back! Would he? I almost started crying before I caught myself. Whoa... crying? NO.

Not me.

Not the Maximum.

Iggy sensed my emotion and laid a hand on my arm. "It's gonna work out all right, Max. Somehow I know it." I shook my head, to the benefit of no one, and he turned to gather Nudge, Gasman, and Angel for bed.

I tensed. Iggy heard me gasp and came back. "What is it?" he asked in a low voice. "Your head?" I didn't reply, but watched the horizon.

A bird was flying toward us. An abnormally big bird. "Nudge? Gazzy? Angel?" My voice sounded like someone else's. They rushed to my side. Angel's eyes widened, and she said, "Really?"

"Maybe. Just wait."

Ten seconds later, I was in charge of the situation again. "Okay, you guys, back up, give him room to land." Nudge was jumping up and down going, "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! HE'S BACK!"

Yeah, it was Fang. But he looked... different. Almost... can I even say this?... forlorn. His dark eyes were tired, but they lit up when he saw everyone. He put on a hint of a smile and gave a typical greeting. "Well, I'm back."

Everyone flooded forward to hug him. As usual, he turned into an unbending statue. It was my turn last. "Welcome back," I said, but I let him know with a look that it was _not_ the end of our conversation. He nodded slightly. Then I hugged him. Was it my imagination, or did he unbend just a bit? I don't know.

What I _do_ know is that I'm glad he's back. Very glad, but relief is starting to be replaced with rage. Tons of questions, but I bite them back. Later. When the Flock is asleep.

Finally. We stacked our fists, and there were six. The Flock. As a whole. That's the way it should be. Everyone said good nights, and everyone fell asleep.

Except Fang and I.

We need to talk.

I sat down next to him, and we stared over the ledge, our feet swinging over sixty stories of air. The city life was still going on below us, but it was faint, faraway.

"Why did you leave us like that?" Anger was in my voice. "You could have warned us. And where the heck did you go and why, anyways? Did you accomplish anything?"

He was silent. I looked at him. His face was, as usual, expressionless.

"I went to Virginia to find my parents, I didn't. Flying in the rain stinks."

Whoa. Lots of information in those clipped sentences. I processed it and looked at him incredulously. "You _WHAT?_"

For the first time he met my gaze. "I know you're not deaf." Oh, great. Sarcasm.

I swallowed what he told me and asked another question. "Why didn't you let us know?"

He glanced at me. "I didn't want you to come. This was something _I_ had to do. Understand now?"

I nodded mutely. He looked away. "Like I ever thought I'd find her. And what would I have done if I did? The whole thing was just stupid. The maps got wet. All I know is that they live in some town that starts with _A_, so of course nothing worked as planned. Like I said, it was stupid." He turned to look at me, and with the full moon I could see him blinking.

Whoa.

Wait a _second._

Fang? The mighty Fang? On the verge of tears? This was _big_. Like, as in maybe he hit his head while he was gone. I was so awestruck that I just gaped at him for five seconds.

Then, as any good big sister should, I slid closer and put an arm around his shoulders. He stiffened, so I gave him a side hug and let go.

_Note to self: Even when Fang is acting like a different person, he still hates hugs._

After about a minute of total silence, he sighed and looked at me. His eyes were normal. The moment was gone. But I'm not going to forget _that_, no sirree.

"Well, why did you come back?" My voice sounded very small. "I mean, you could have anywhere..."

He gave me a somewhat condescending look. "Duh," he replied. "The Flock. If I weren't here, you guys would be toast." I punched his shoulder. "That all?"

"No," he continued, scratching his chin. "Mostly... nah, never mind."

"What?"

"Nothing." His mouth was set in a firm line, and he gazed at something far away.

"No, really, what is it?"

He looked at me strangely. "I said it's nothing."

"Why did you come back?" I asked insistently. "Come on, you can tell me." Yep, that's me, won't give up through opposition. In other words, I'm bugging the crap out of him.

He turned his dark eyes on me. They looked strange, too. Fang stared at me and I stared back, for who knows how long? He took a deep breath as if he was going to say something, held it in, then finally let it out.

Was he afraid to tell me? He looked like he was gathering courage to say _something._

"Why did you come back?" I repeated in a whisper.

He was silent for another twenty seconds. Then he said quietly:

"You."

I couldn't help it. My mouth fell open and my eyes got really, really big. Fang looked at me almost apologetically.

He stood up abruptly and walked away, leaving me with my thoughts.

One word said so much. I replayed the moment over and over. Had I heard correctly? I finally convinced myself that's what he said. Fang came back mostly because of _me._

Does that mean what I think it means? Nothing like this has happened since... um... the beach. Or maybe he really did suffer a concussion or something. I've got a lot of thinking to do...

_Hello, Maximum. _Just what I need now.

"Go away, Voice," I muttered.

_Fang really surprised you tonight, didn't he?_

"Yes!" I hissed.

_But you had been thinking about him a bit more, hadn't you?_

"Duh," I responded. "He's been missing."

_Ah... but I think there's more to it than that, don't you?_

"Shut up and stop bothering me," I murmured crossly.

The Voice chuckled. _I'm afraid I can't do that. If you're going to save the world, you've got to learn some things first._

I sighed. I knew where this was going.

_Ready, Maximum?_

I braced myself...

Nothing could prepare me for this shock. My brain felt like it was exploding and burning and freezing all at once. Pictures flashed through my mind. Buildings. People. Jeb. Whitecoats. The pain got even worse. I heard something... wind rushing past my ears.

I had fallen out of the hotel.

My hands were clutching at my head, trying to hold it together. I saw a replay of Ari beating up Fang. But this time he killed him.

Wind rushing. I screamed. How long would it take me to hit the ground? _Oh, God, please, please save me._

The pain was still there, but I felt something around me. I was going up, not down. Strong arms encircling my pitiful form. _Fang._

My head eventually cleared. I realized that he was carefully putting me down in the hotel, my head on a pillow. I blinked. Everyone was awake, watching me. I tried to smile but couldn't. I said "Hello" but it came out as a croak. Angel walked away and came back with something cool and clear. Water. Sometimes I'm so grateful she's a mind reader.

I gulped it down as Iggy felt my forehead. "She's sweating. Wet a corner of my blanket, Gazzy."

I protested. "No, that's okay," I whispered hoarsely. "I'll be fine." But Gazzy did it anyway and suddenly the coolness of it was on my face.

"Are you okay, Max?" It was Nudge. "I mean, we heard you scream and that woke us up and we rushed out and you were holding your head, sitting on the edge. Then you just, kind of, fell, and Fang got this look on his face and jumped out and disappeared and we were all so scared..." Her lower lip started quivering.

"It's okay, Nudge. I'm okay. Okay?" She nodded slowly.

"Are you sure there's nothing we can do?" Iggy inquired. I shook my head and replied, "No. I'll be fine." Angel looked at me and said, "She wants to get to sleep."

"To bed. She'll recover, this has happened before," Fang commanded. "Goodnight, Max." "Night-night, Max." "Good night, sleep tight."

I opened my eyes and smiled. Gazzy was still sitting next to me. His eyes were huge and he still looked scared. I squeezed his hand and ruffled his hair. "Everything'll be fine, buddy. Just go to bed and get a good night's sleep, all right?" He nodded, hugged me, whispered "Night!" in my ear, then tiptoed to his pillow.

Finally, I slept.

I awoke when it was still dark. My eyes focused on the still form of Fang sitting in front of me. I started, and he said in a low voice, "You okay?"

I nodded, swallowing. "Have you been here this whole time?"

He nodded. "Couldn't sleep." He looked at me, then stood up and started walking to his "bed," actually his pillow and blanket.

"Wait," I called after him softly. He turned and came back, a question in his face.

"What you said earlier- did you really mean it?"

He hesitated, then knelt beside me and smoothed back my hair. "Yes," he said so quietly I could hardly hear him. He bent his head down and pressed his lips to my forehead for three full seconds.

Then he turned and walked to his pillow.

I lay there, dazed. Oh. My. Gosh.

Did Fang just kiss me?

He did.

Which means now I have so much more to think about.

No more sleep... for tonight.

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So? What did you think? Please review!


	2. Trick or Treat?

Okay, on the count of three, you all scream yippee. One, two, three.. YIPPEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously, this has been my most successful oneshot- 15 whole reviews. And most of them impatiently demand more. So I give you... #drum roll#... MORE! You probably noticed the name change, hope that I didn't throw anyone for a loop. I'm expecting a warm welcome, though, since so many of you wanted to read more of this story.

I've turned the storyline into following Fang's blog. So, while this chapter happens the day after the last one, I actually skipped a few _weeks_ on the blog. And it may not be exactly what you were wanting. Oh well. Deal with it.

Isn't it convenient that this chapter's about Halloween? In case you read the blog, I'm using chapter headings from the blog itself, and I'm following it closely. Oh... I have a question for all of you. I absolutely love trick-or-treating, and I'm 15. I don't see anything wrong with that, it's so much fun! How many of you are as old/older than me and you still trick-or-treat? What are you going to be this year? I am going to be Christine Daae from Phantom of the Opera. It rocks.

Anyways, you probably don't want to read my rambling. Without further ado, I give you: "Trick or Treat?"

HOMECOMING IS BACK!!!!!!!

**Disclaimer: I don't own Mr. Patterson's ideas. I do, however, own _my_ ideas. And I shall own all the lovely reviews I shall get. #cough, cough#**

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Something was tickling my nose. I sneezed and rolled over, emitting an unintelligible moan that sounded like "hurmffffftht." Someone above me snorted in laughter and kicked my side, making me roll over.

"Hm?" The light in my eyes blinded me. Finally I was able to focus on Gazzy, looming over me with his wings stretched out. So _that's _what had tickled me. I glared at him. "What do you want?" I asked grumpily. He shrugged innocently. Yeah, right.

Okay, so maybe I _had_ fallen asleep again. All the while thinking about Fang and what he said, of course. And did. Speaking of whom, he was heading toward me with a doughnut and part of the newspaper.

"Hey, Van Winkle, want some breakfast?" he asked around a mouthful of... well, a doughnut, presumably. I took the doughnut gratefully and bit into it, all the while searching his face.

He didn't say anything, but a ghost of a smile played about his mouth and his eyes expressed everything, if only for a brief moment. I smiled back- of course he hadn't forgotten.

Fang sat down next to me as we ate silently. Suddenly Nudge rushed up to us excitedly, waving around a part of newspaper and spitting crumbs in all directions. "Max! Fang! It says _right here_" -she shoved the paper in our faces- "there's a free Halloween party tomorrow two blocks away from here! And get this," she exclaimed, finally swallowing, "there's a $100 prize for best costume! Can we go? Please? _Please?_" By this time Gazzy and Angel had been attracted by the commotion, and they started begging too.

I looked over at Fang. He had taken the piece of newspaper and was reading it. He finished, cocked his head, and raised his eyebrows at me as if to say, "You're the boss, it's your decision."

I sighed. Why can't he ever help me on something like this?

I eyed the kids around me. Even _Iggy_ was muttering, "A costume party would be fun..." I sighed again. And relented.

"Alright, alright, we'll go." I raised my hand to stop the outburst of approval. "We've got to get costumes. Twenty dollars TOPS. Okay?"

- - - - - - -

And I thought the younger kids went crazy in the _toy_ store. As soon as we got into Party City, they went off hollering in all directions. I grabbed Angel before she could escape me. "Honey, no 'asking,' okay?" She nodded, and I released her.

I wandered down the aisles without really seeing anything. I thought about the night before, stretching out in my mind what had happened...

And nearly jumped out of my skin when I ran into Fang.

He whirled around. "Whoa there, watch where you're going," he reprimanded me. "I could have been an Eraser." I crossed my eyes at him. He smirked and held up a costume accessory. It was a pair of black wings made of real feathers.

"Wouldn't this be ironic," he murmured. Turning around, he put them on and faced me again, striking a dramatic evil pose. "How do I look?"

I giggled. "You look like a fourteen-year-old wearing your five-year-old wings. Ergo, you look ridiculous. Take them off, please."

Fang complied. "Really, what should I be? Costumes are mandatory for admission, Nudge said. Not in so few words, of course." Of course. "A demon? A goth?" I suggested. He shook his head, long hair flying. We turned the corner into a row of plastic swords. I turned and considered his appearance. "You could be a samurai!" I grabbed a sword and thrust it into his hand. He promptly started whacking me with it.

"Hey, don't attack an unarmed person!" I yelped, reaching for a similar sword. We launched into a full-fledged sword fight.

One of the benefits of growing up with that traitor Jeb- he taught us how to handle all sorts of weapons, even swords. We're not experts, but we're pretty good. Our swords clashed repeatedly. I took a swipe at his feet and he jumped, then tried to bring the sword down on my head. I dropped to the floor and rolled out of the way, bringing my sword up to hit him, but he parried it. Standing up, we exchanged a few more hits, then Fang disengaged me, flinging my sword across the aisle.

"Hiyaa!" he shouted, pretending to stab me. I almost laughed, but acted the part. We had led up to this part- my favorite sword sequence, actually. I got to die.

"Ulguhfffughhh!" I floundered about the aisle, holding my imaginary wound. "You.. you have murdered me!" I flopped to the ground, squirming and groaning loudly. Fang stood over me menacingly. "I shall finish you off!" he announced. "Nooo..." I moaned. Raising his sword, he swung it down on my neck. I gave a violent shudder and lay still, waiting for Fang's next "line."

At the end of the aisle, someone coughed. I opened my eyes a crack to see who it was, then jumped to my feet as I saw the uniformed _manager._ Whoops. Fang hid his sword behind his back.

"Can I... help you?" he asked. "Is there something you're looking for?" Translation: WHAT the HECK were you just doing?!?! Fang swallowed beside me. "Uh.. no, sir. We're fine." We quickly replaced our swords. He gave us one more look of disbelief and concern, then disappeared.

As soon as he left, we burst into hysterical laughter.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

_beep. beep. beep. beep._

The cashier was scanning our stuff. And let me tell you, it was a lot of stuff. Angel was going to be a ballerina. Pink leotard... pink tutu... pink slippers... pink ribbons...

Gazzy was going to be a pumpkin. Pumpkin suit... green cap... orange and green face paint...

Nudge? Don't ask me why- a diva. (That was sarcasm.) Shiny silver pants, shiny purple shirt, HUGE stick on earrings, purple purse, and purple eyeshadow and lipstick. Uh... guess what her favorite color is?

Iggy had come up with the not-too-original idea of a magician. But he did have some original ideas for magic tricks... all including bombs, of course. Black cape, top hat, pants and shirt set, magic set, and wand. The Amazing Iggy.

After much indecision, Fang had finally settled on being . ... ... ... and .

And moi? Fang tried to get me to buy a Barbie costume. I nearly tore his eyes out, and he put it back. Now I was mournfully watching a Renaissance costume go through the cashier's hands. I mean, it was really pretty, but.. a dress? It was the best I could do. Oh well, at least it was green, and not pink.

_beep. beep. beep._

"Ma'am?" The cashier was talking to me. Oh. "I said, that'll be $209.87."

What? Um, heck no. I am _not _spending that much on a _free_ costume party where we _might _get $100. "Oh..." I said, at a loss. What were we going to do now? "I think I changed my mind..." The cashier glared at me but gathered up all the stuff to put it back.

While he was gone, I banged my head against the wall. "Maaaax..." Nudge whined. "You said we'd go!"

"Sorry, sweetie, we CANNOT spend that much on costumes."

Iggy sat down dejectedly on a bench. "And I had such great ideas..."

Angel looked to be on the brink of tears.

Gazzy gazed at me sadly. "Too bad we can't just go as ourselves. But costumes are mandatory." I ruffled his hair. "Sorry, bud."

An idea struck me so suddenly that I physically jumped. Fang looked at me in alarm. "That's IT!!!" Every head swivelled in my direction. "We'll go as OURSELVES!"

_Bingo,_ added the Voice.

Iggy looked confused. "But... costumes are mandatory..."

A look of happy realization spread across Nudge's face. "No, Ig!" she proclaimed gleefully. "With our wings out!" Eyebrows went up all around.

"Yes!"

"We'll get to go after all!"

"Brilliant, Max!"

"Hurray!"

"Max, are you sure?" I looked at Fang. "People may get suspicious..."

"I'm sure, Fang. All we have to do is make our wings look fake enough." With that, I tore down the nearest aisle, the flock following closely behind.

I gathered glitter, pieces of paper to match our feathers, and hairspray to make our feathers stiff. "We'll all go as angels in white shirts and blue jeans," I explained. "Except for Fang. He can wear his normal clothes." I happily dumped my pile in front of the cashier, who eyed me doubtfully. "Would you please ring us up?"

_beep. beep. beep..._

"$15.42," he droned. I was just about to hand him my twenty when another idea hit me.

"Hold on! I'll be right back!" I rushed down an aisle to grab some cheap accessories I had seen earlier. Running back, I threw onto the conveyor belt five golden halos... and one pair of devil's horns.

Fang rolled his eyes.

- - - - - - - - - - -

We emerged from an abandoned building where we had applied the finishing touches to our wings. Iggy was just behind me. "I feel extremely unprotected and exposed," he informed me.

I didn't blame him. We all felt nervous and were continually checking the people around us to see if they suspected anything. But no one looked at us, say, the way they would look at a mutant freak. Instead, we caught a witch, a cat, and a firefighter giving us looks of awe and respect. A way no one had looked at us before.

On Halloween, of all nights, we could leave our wings out and instead of people freaking out, they would admire us. How cool.

I liked it.

We made our way to the party as quickly as we could, still paranoid. Once we arrived, a dude in a sombrero greeted us. "Yo!" he exclaimed in a phony Mexican accent. "I be the head honcho here. Your costumes be good. Name and costume name, pleez." He gave me a clipboard. I wrote "Max, Nick, Jeff, Tiffany, Zephyr, and Ariel Ride." After some consideration, I simply put, "The Flock."

As we moved among the crowd, we were showered with compliments. "Wow!" "Amazing!" "How did you do it?" "They look so real!" "Do they move?" "Can I touch them?" When questions were asked, I came up with a story about a crafty mother off the top of my head. "We.. uh.. have an almost unlimited supply of glue, cardboard, and down feathers. Our mom does crafts. And, uh, we raise chickens. No, please don't touch them, we don't want them to fall apart. No, they don't move, that was impossible to do."

There was the bad part, too. I was sweating buckets, afraid _someone_ would call our bluff. I kept imagining it- a pointed finger, a shout of "They're real! Those kids are freaks!" and an uproar. Iggy and Fang felt the same way, but the younger kids were having a blast.

Angel hung out near the bobbing for apples. Sombrero dude was really frustrated with her for beating him at it. She had the unfair advantage- she never had to come up.

I don't know if I've mentioned it, but Gazzy is addicted to candy corn. So all night he stayed by the trail mix, which was made up of pretzels, candy corn, and raisons. Sombrero kept yelling at him in a gruff voice (forgetting the Mexican accent) to stop devouring all the corn.

Nudge drifted over to the pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey. As she toted a huge chocolate bar to me for safekeeping, my eyes nearly popped out. "How on earth did you get that?" I asked. She grinned. "Well, as soon as I felt the paper, I could trace the figure of the donkey. And when I got to the spot where the person who drew it- Andy- meant for the tail to go, I could almost hear him saying, 'And the tail goes here.' It was an easy win, actually." She handed over the chocolate and disappeared.

Iggy stayed near Fang, who was wandering around taking pictures with his digital camera for the blog. I mingled. Wow. I actually got some social involvement. Aren't you proud of me?

A voice boomed over the loudspeakers. "Attention, ladee and gentlemaan," Sombrero guy shouted. "Pleez be quiet. I no can hear." Everyone stopped talking. "Dees year de Halloween partee be great. Dank you for coming!" Applause. "Now be time for awards. For Funniest Costume, go to Metro cards!" More applause. I yawned. This was going to take forever. He worked through most original, most confusing, best pet costume, and so on and so forth.

"Finally, I be proud to say who be our best costume." A hush fell over the crowd. "It be six way tie. Ladee and gentlemaan, put your hand togedder for de Flock!"

My mouth fell open. The younger kids materialized at my side, and we walked forward in a trance to receive a _one hundred dollar bill._ The crowd shouted its approval.

As we made our way toward the exit, everyone surrounded us with praise and congratulations. I saw one person among them who looked at me with undisguised recognition and contempt. I gulped, and herded my family out of there quickly.

- - - - - - -

"Trick or treat!" we chorused, for the last time. It was almost nine o' clock, the unofficial stopping time of Halloween. Our pillowcases were bulging, anyway. Nudge had insisted we visit this house- it was so big, they must be giving away great candy, she reasoned. So I agreed. The door creaked open.

A modelly-looking young man stood there. He grinned at us maliciously. "Why, hello, there," he said. "I was expecting you."

I shook my head. "No."

He started morphing. "Yes," he mocked. His head turned. "Come o-" He didn't get a chance to finish was he was going to say.

Fang had rushed forward and clobbered him with his pillowcase.

We gaped. He turned to us. "Well, I guess candy can be a good thing." Still we gaped, until several more Erasers appeared.

So we turned and took off, laughing.

- - - - - - - -

It took awhile for the stiffness in our wings to work out. After all, we had just held them motionless for four hours. And we were tired and lugging heavy pillowcases. But we were exhilarated. We had just won $100 and practically looted several neighborhoods.

Iggy lowered his head to his bag for the umpteenth time to inhale. "Mmmm..." he breathed. "Smells soooo good..." Fang whapped him with his wing on the back. "Stop it, man," he admonished. "You're going to get high and fall or something." Iggy just grinned.

Fang looked over at me and smiled, and I mean really smiled, lighting up the sky. I caught my breath and smiled at him. He started laughing and shaking his head.

"Caught him on the cheek with my pillowcase of candy. That was great."

I agreed. "Remember that, Fang. Your best weapon is your candy."

We landed in our unfinished hotel and fell on the candy like... um.. Erasers. It was so good. Yum.

As bird kids, we didn't exactly get candy very often. So this... this was heaven. We are so definitely doing this again next year.

Happy Halloween, everyone.

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WELL???? What did you think? I am sooooo pleased with this chapter. Most of it just came as I wrote, especially the swordfight (lol) and the overcoming of the Eraser. (#grins#) I know this is very different from the first chapter, but I liked it a lot.

SO... please, please, please, PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Halloween!


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